March 2019 – Ask the Chimney Sweep

Water Problems: A lot of people have water problems this time of year! The rain and snowfall have been extremely hard on chimneys with pre-existing problems. Cincinnati Chimney Contractor Clay Lamb here. If you've recently received an estimate for chimney repair or discovered you have water problems, you should know that little holes in your chimney, can allow gallons of damaging water into your home. It could be on top of the chimney crown. Or possibly your bricks could need re-pointing of the brick mortar. It could be the metal chimney flashing issue located at the base of the chimney where it meets the roof. Wherever the water is coming in, I would highly recommend that you get it resolved as soon as possible. An important thing to note is a lot of the time, it's more than just one area that the water's coming in. It could be coming from upstream, coming into vent-stacks, skylights, things like that where areas of the home. I'd highly recommend water repellent, we recommend Chimney Savers Water Repellent, the warranty is really great. The warranty is a 10-year warranty on brick masonry. Now, another thing is if you feel some crown repair is a recommended prepare, let's get it taken care of. You start with a chimney cap, you start with a crown repair which is the area just below the flue tile there. Then you start with the brick and mortar. Now courses of brick or horizontal, there could be any number in any course of the brick, these all need to have water repellent applied. Sometimes we recommend it is treated down the roofline, and sometimes we will say the entire chimney needs the application Here are some videos to help explain the issue: Let's go resolve this before it gets worse on you. Water problems don't go away unless you fix them. In conclusion, we hope you can find a reputable Chimney Sweep in your area to help you solve your water problems by using this link: ncsg.org In addition, be sure and go online so you can read their customer reviews from Google, BBB, and AngiesList. I hope that this information helps! Check out our YouTube Videos or our Blogs to learn more about water problems and much more! Burn Safe and Warm, Clay Lamb